Gallagher, an assistant managing editor at Fortune magazine, makes her case in The End of the Suburbs (Portfolio, $25.95). The book summarizes recent research to conclude that the car-centric suburban world, with its McMansions and cul-de-sacs, will become a thing of the past.

Gallagher argues that trends seen in central Ohio and elsewhere, such as residents returning to the center city and an emphasis on mixed-use walkable neighborhoods, will set the stage for housing’s future.

She recently spoke with The Dispatch about her findings.

Q: Your book is called The End of the Suburbs; are you talking about all suburbs or just one type?

A: When I say the end of the suburbs, I mean the end of the suburbs as we know them. They started out as one thing — very organic village-type communities that sprouted around train lines or streetcar stations, so even though they were suburbs, they were pleasing places to walk around. Then they became these looping cul-de-sacs with wide streets and strip malls.

I like to say it went from (television shows) The Wonder Years to Weeds. The Wonder Years is sepia-toned — a wonderful time in our history before the 1970s — then it morphed into this Weedish place where everything looks exactly the same.

Q: What were the primary forces that drove the change?

A: The single biggest thing that caused the model to change is the car. Once the car became freely available, that’s when this new suburb came to be. The old was designed around people; the new was designed around cars. That’s when planners came up with single-use zoning, which determined that we would sleep one place and work and play someplace else.

Q: What are the forces pulling us away from that now?

A: A number of things — one of which is rising energy prices. It’s just too expensive for some people to live so far out. Some of these burbs, you’re 10 miles from just a gallon of milk.

Demographics are also changing suburbs. The birthrate is going down; the makeup of the average household is changing to where a minority of households are going to be traditional nuclear families. That has a tremendous impact on where we will live.

And then you look at the preference of young people. They want to live in cities.

Q: How much of that preference is a function of age, and how much is a true shift in culture?

A: These millennials grew up in the remote suburbs and in the back seats of cars, so they know what that’s like. . . . It’s a lifestyle change.

I don’t think that will change when they start having kids. If given a choice of a remote cul-de-sac or a lively village, they will opt for the latter.

Q: Many of the forces that pushed people out of cities — crime, poverty, dated housing stock and, especially, poor schools — remain an issue today. How far can cities truly revive until these are resolved?

A: The schools are an issue, but I talked to a lot of people for the book who pulled their kids out of the suburbs and went into cities — although I know that is the exception. But the suburbs are aging, and, as more young families move into the cities, that will make the schools better.

Q: Even though you grew up in an older suburb of Philadelphia, you live in Manhattan now. How do you think that influences your view of the nation’s housing?

A: People in Manhattan have a skewed vision of the way people live, but I recognize the limits of living in Manhattan. I don’t see Manhattan as the end-all and be-all. It’s not an easy place to live. It’s expensive, the places are teeny, and you’ve got to schlep your stuff all around.

I don’t have anything against the suburbs. I grew up in one.

Q: As you note in the book, many neighborhoods now considered urban, such as Brooklyn, were once suburbs. Seen this way, haven’t suburbs always eventually been “urbanized” as cities grow? In other words, aren’t suburbs simply a synonym for city growth?

A: Not really. Today’s suburbs don’t grow in the same way cities grow. The problem is they don’t have centers. There may be growth, but it’s very low-density, and there’s very little other growth. It’s these nowhere places.

Q: Even though suburbs have been a target of academics and urban planners for decades, millions of people still choose to live there. What’s wrong with that?

A: For a lot of people, there really isn’t enough choice. For so long, you had to pick one or the other. There was nothing really in between, and the in between is what people want.

Q: Where do you see housing activity in 10 years?

A: I see a lot more communities that have these sort of walkable components. Builders are trying to build those. I see more people living in inner-ring suburbs, and I do think more people will move to cities. We’re seeing that trend start.

The good news is, it’s going to be possible to find a great solution in a lot of places.